1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hospitality environment item, such as interchangeable finish materials and their placement on underbar furniture/equipment in a commercial hospitality environment. The edges of the finish material are positioned to conceal their edges.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Commercial foodservice underbar furniture/equipment has traditionally featured limited or no options for aesthetic integration with the commercial hospitality environment. Stainless steel is the dominant material of choice, with little variation in look, material, or design. Black powder coated finish is sometimes available for rust-prone legs of exposed furniture/equipment, but it is perceived as a lower quality product and finish vs. the stainless steel option. In today's market, bar areas within commercial foodservice facilities are increasingly visible to the guest. As a result, new furniture/equipment designs are required to better integrate the furniture/equipment with the adjacent counters, millwork, walls, and finishes. Designers are seeking new options in underbar furniture/equipment, which will allow for the design concept to extend into the equipment arena. In many instances, the current “standard” bar furniture/equipment is seen as an “obstacle” that must be overcome. While the industry has developed a variety of finish options for back bar refrigeration, including laminates, glass, stainless, and veneers, the need for aesthetic improvements to the underbar furniture/equipment has been overlooked.
Due to rapidly changing trends in design, facilities also require the ability to upgrade and/or alter the look and appearance of their furniture/equipment without having to fully replace the furniture/equipment itself, which would add unnecessary cost and waste. Thus a solution is required that will enable the end user (equipment operator) to reasonably interchange aesthetic components without requiring assistance from a person who is skilled in the art.
Standard or “buy out” underbar furniture/equipment manufacturers offer few options addressing the aesthetic options desired by designers. Conventional offerings do not allow for accommodation of integrated decorative finishes or components. Such modifications would require physical modifications to the bar furniture/equipment (i.e. cutting and welding) in the factory or in the field, and the final product would most likely fail to meet aesthetic requirements of the design team. Alternate designs must typically be custom fabricated and do not offer the ability for modifications in appearance or aesthetics following initial fabrication and installation. As a result, costs for such non-standard design solutions are higher and these improvements are often deleted from projects when their costs are determined to be unaffordable. Opportunities also exist for new configurations and styles of underbar furniture/equipment offering unique functions not presently available to commercial bar operators.
The present inventor, in cooperation with Supreme Metal, an underbar furniture/equipment manufacturer, incorporated the present invention into a line of underbar furniture/equipment featuring interchangeable, customizable finishes, hardware, fixtures, storage options and installation configurations, as a cost effective way to upgrade interior bar functionality and decor integration. The line was introduced under the tradename VISION Underbar Furniture and the content from the website http://show.restaurant.org/nra11/public/Contentaspx?ID=1108 reads as follows about the launch of the VISION Underbar Furniture line:                Supreme Metal is proud to introduce VISION Underbar Furniture, the world's first underbar beverage assembly system designed specifically with front-of-house integration in mind.        Display kitchens, and the theater that they provide, have revolutionized the guest dining experience over the past two decades. But while display kitchen spaces continue to evolve, similar advancements in bar design have been fairly limited—until now. The continued evolution in mixology has offered another opportunity for improved guest connection and interaction, but the traditional bar design still dominates the landscape and limits this potential. Simply stated, today's underbar equipment has little aesthetic value and discourages more engaging bar environments.        VISION Underbar Furniture will change that. This line of underbar furniture offers the unprecedented opportunity to customize the look and feel of the underbar system. With a variety of finishes, fixtures, and hardware now available, operators and designers alike can easily customize their interior bar without having to resort to custom fabrication. VISION Underbar Furniture features full cabinet construction and offers modern, chic, impactful finish options for doors, drawers, backsplashes, and exposed fronts or sides. Even better, the finishes and hardware are interchangeable in the field, which will allow for affordable updates in the future. With these new design features, the arrival of display bars is finally here. The freedom to create more open and engaging bar designs now exists.        But this system has focused on more than just looks alone. VISION Underbar Furniture has blended form with much improved function. New, thoughtful features are incorporated throughout the line. Such improvements include flexible door/drawer configurations, integrated backsplash lighting, provisions for common purveyor provided equipment, integrated locking covers, innovative storage modules, and much, much more. As part of our development process, we took a step back to re-think the typical interior bar environment and looked for opportunities to improve the guest and staff experience at every turn.        It is our hope that VISION Underbar Furniture will fill a long-neglected need and provide industry operators and designers with new options to create more open, engaging, display bars. The bar, as they say, is now truly . . . open. We invite you to explore your VISION of what a bar environment can be.        
The VISION Underbar Furniture line was entered in a Kitchen Innovations Award contest run by the National Restaurant Association that judges cutting-edge furniture/equipment from foodservice equipment manufacturers. According to their website at http://show.restaurant.org/nra11/public/Contentaspx?ID=750&sortMenu=108007:                Selected by an independent panel of experts, the award recipients represent the most groundbreaking equipment on the market that will cut costs and improve productivity and food quality in restaurant operations. Previous Kitchen Innovations award recipients have received national and international attention for their revolutionary products.        “Our previous Kitchen Innovations Award recipients have gained recognition as industry-leading manufacturers of foodservice equipment that significantly helps restaurant operator profitability and efficiency, so we are excited to see this year's award submissions,” said David Gilbert, Chief Operating Officer of the National Restaurant Association. “Product innovation is an important driver toward restaurant sales growth and cost management. By identifying back-of-the-house equipment that is truly cutting edge, we hope to help the nation's nearly one million restaurants grow and succeed.”        Award recipients will be showcased in the Kitchen Innovations Pavilion in its new central location on the exhibit floor. Throughout the four-day NRA Show, there are countless opportunities to interact with U.S. and international dealers, distributors and chain, multi-unit and independent operators, corporate decision-makers and news media during one-on-one, interactive demonstrations. All applications are judged by an independent, expert panel of industry leaders.        
The Vision line of underbar furniture was one of twenty-two recipients of this prestigious Kitchen Innovations award for 2011 based upon the present invention's interchangeable, customizable finishes, hardware, fixtures, storage options and installation configurations, as a cost effective way to upgrade interior bar functionality and decor integration.
The present inventor was motivated to fill a long felt need in the underbar furniture/equipment industry by coming up with a functional line of underbar furniture/equipment that replaces conventional underbar furniture/equipment offering similar capabilities, general sizes, and comparable configurations (i.e. ice bins, blender stations, storage cabinets, etc.) but with any number of or all of the following improvements:
1. Interchangeable decorative panels for front doors.
2. Interchangeable decorative panels for sides of furniture/equipment, where exposed.
3. Interchangeable decorative panels integrated into the backsplash of the furniture/equipment.
4. Selection of unique and interchangeable top finishes including but not limited to tile, stainless steel (including textured stainless steel), bonded metal, solid surface, marble, granite, quartz-based stone, glass, frosted glass, and other such comparable materials typically utilized in commercial foodservice front-of-house applications. Bonded metal finish includes finishes such as, but not limited to, bonded aluminum, bonded bronze, bonded gold bronze, bonded nickel silver. Preferably, the choice of finish is approved by the National Sanitation Foundation.5. Equipment can be physically connected at the sides, thus increasing stability, improving installation, and reducing cost as side panels will not be required for all furniture/equipment. Side panels will only be required where ends of furniture/equipment are exposed.6. Selection of interchangeable hardware, including but not limited to door handles, drawer pulls, faucet styles, etc.7. Common cabinet style body capable of receiving a variety of finishes and/or components for the following areas: top, backsplash, door material, door design/style, and handles.8. Common (single) tops and backsplash segments up to approximately 10′-0″ in length which can span multiple pieces of furniture/equipment.9. Standard internal design capable of receiving doors and/or drawers based on the end user's needs and preference.10. Independent pieces, capable of affixing and securing to one another.11. Side panels to be separate, and only provided as required where visible. Side panels can be retrofitted as required.12. Integrated lighting within backsplash.13. Corner cabinets with rotating storage shelves below.14. Rotating liquor storage cabinets.15. Security covers designed to retract and store within the same footprint of the individual piece of furniture/equipment, eliminating the need for remote storage of these security covers.16. Decorative liquor storage rail containment equipment.17. Drawer options for glass rack storage, concealing the visibility of unsightly glass racks from the guest.18. Integral support and coordination for soda gun supporting equipment and components in a thoughtful and aesthetically pleasing manner.19. Integrated storage and placement for soda guns within the furniture/equipment.20. Option for integral stainless steel base.21. Alternate corner storage units to maximize underbar storage capacity.22. Accommodations for vendor provided items, including but not limited to, soda system components, soap and detergent dispensing, etc.23. Decorative panels designed to affix to furniture/equipment not always offered by bar equipment manufacturers (i.e. undercounter dish machines), thus allowing the bar equipment to better integrate with the bar furniture.